1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to medical instruments, particularly to urological probes (bougies) for treating diseases of the urethra and the neck of the urinary bladder.
2. Description of Prior Art
Urethral strictures, especially postraumatic ones, are very dense, rigid, and resistant to stretching. They are localized mostly in the membranous or bulbous parts of the urethra.
A non-surgical method for treating urethral strictures, known as bouglurage, involves probing such strictures with elongated members or probes to enlarge them.
Such probes are known as bougies and prior-art, conventional bougies are shown, e.g., in the text "Urology", 3d ed., v.1. p. 242, M. F. Campbell and J. H. Harrison, eds. (Saunders, 1970). They comprise solid metal (or plastic) rods which are shaped to accommodate the physiological curvature of the urethra. Since in males the urethra's outer part is within the pendulus of penis, which is highly flexible, such outer part can be bent or straightened as necessary. The urethra's inner part extends around (behind) the pubic articulation and thus is curved. Thus, conventional bougies generally comprise a straight portion extending from the handle, followed by a curved portion adjacent the tip. This shape corresponds to the urethra when the penis is straightened, i.e., starting at its penile outlet, the urethra is straight and then curved (roughly C-shaped).
Despite the correspondence in shapes, the insertion of a conventional bougie in males is a very complicated and painful operation, requiring high skill and concentration. Usually, the urologist will employ a set of bougies of gradually increasing diameter. The results of treatment with such instruments are not always positive; complications such as bleeding, injuries, urinary fever, prostatitis, epididymitis, urethremorrharia, etc., may occur. Even in females, whose urethreas are shorter and straighter, many of these difficulties are encountered.
Moreover, the conventional bougie is used only for dilatation and cannot be utilized for other types of treatment, e.g. inner massage of the urethra and/or neck of the urinary bladder, and dilatation of nephrostomic fistulae.